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A little flexibility on ramp, please

Sat., Dec. 6, 2014

Re: Engineer won’t let ramp issue slide, Dec. 1

Engineer won’t let ramp issue slide, Dec. 1

The city’s ridiculous and archaic decision to demand that a temporary access ramp be removed from a restaurant in Toronto, without question shows that the greatest barrier people with disabilities face is not physical, sensory, vision or sound but one of attitude.

This group not only makes up 15.4 per cent of Canadians but when direct family members are added, the demographic swells to 53 per cent. That means every second individual walking past that restaurant is directly affected by disability.

Attitudes and discrimination toward the disabled is most often caused by ignorance and fear. In this case however it’s based on narrow-minded thinking by city officials who clearly don’t understand the obvious outcome everyone wants here is equal access for everyone — now, not years from now after different city departments pass around the portfolio.

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The disability community is the last frontier, the final group of citizens that can be freely discriminated against without fear of reprisal. However, in the near future decisions like this by the city will handled with the same disgust as if a LGBT shopper was barred from entering that restaurant as a result of archaic city policy and procedure.

Mark Wafer, Ashburn

Flexibility in rules plus a little common sense in truly needed. Ontario’s accessibility law has caused problems all across the city. Many transit shelters no longer offer shelter from the elements because of this rule.

There was a good one on Sutherland, off Bayview just a block above Moore Ave. Suddenly, it was gone and an inadequate shallow replacement left people totally unprotected from rain and winter weather. It now serves mainly as a receptacle for huge advertisements.

I asked my councillor and city hall why? The same absurd answer was given. The street is narrow. It would be quite simple to use the sidewalk on the other side and cross the street when past the shelter. As it is now, the darn thing is useless except as a giant advertising vehicle.

Rigid observance of the law sometimes defeats the purpose the law was designed for and makes it difficult for everyone.

Shirley Bush, Toronto

A couple of years ago I spent an afternoon waiting my turn to speak at a committee of adjustment meeting. Of the many requests I observed come before the committee, one that stood out was from a developer for a “minor variance” to construct, in a location zoned for a maximum height of 39 meters, a tower of 142 meters — more than 360 per cent of the legal limit.

For more than 10 minutes, the committee seriously discussed approving that outrageous proposal, as they had done with many other grossly proportioned “minor” variance requests that same day. (On this file, they finally decided to pass the buck to council for a potential zoning amendment.)

Luke Anderson’s accessibility ramp varies from the applicable bylaw by 2 centimetres — less than 1 per cent — but the city’s bureaucrats are adamant that it must be removed and no exception will be made.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Stuart Rogers, Toronto

Kyp Perikleous, the city’s director of transportation services, either spoke with his tongue firmly in his cheek or he spends all his time behind his desk.

If he is serious, he should get out and walk along the Danforth, as well as many other city boulevards, particularly in patio season, where his 2.1 metre sidewalk clearway is treated as a farce and violations of this “strict” policy are clearly evident.

Perhaps it is time for Mr. Perikleous to get out from behind his desk and go and see things for himself.

Dale Nankivell, Toronto

Restaurant owner Anjan Manikumar’s commendable attempt to comply with the province’s wheelchair access regulations didn’t reckon with the city of Toronto’s hide-bound regulators.

The temporary ramp near Yonge and Wellesley is frowned on because, “We usually do not accommodate obstructions to a sidewalk.” I suppose all the obstructions around town caused by condo builders are just figments of someone’s imagination.

In fact, condo construction at King and Sherbourne has blocked more than a mere sidewalk. It has delayed the promised completion of the Sherbourne bike path. So it would appear that it all depends on who’s doing the blocking.

Geoff Rytell, Toronto

For the love of all that is kind and good in this city would someone just move that friggin mailbox a metre or two forward so the wheelchair ramp is in compliance and the city can stop hounding that poor restaurant owner for making this world a little more accessible.

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